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Once Upon a Time – Darkness on the Edge of Town – Review (Spoilers)

“Once Upon a Time,” finally came back on Sunday. The second half to this season is going to be a battle between Rumple and the Queens of Darkness (“villains”) and the residents of Storybook (“heroes”). Rumple has been outcasted from his home and the love of his life no longer can trust him. He seems to be willing to do just about anything to get back control of Storybrooke again.

This episode opened in the far distant past where we see Rumple had gathered together Cruella De Vil, Ursula and Maleficent. Turns out that he was just using the queens, needing each of their specialities to get the dark curse. Just as with everyone else Rumple comes into contact with he uses them and then disposes of them. He leaves them to be eaten by the monster that guards the area, effectively making himself enemies in the process.

Rumple is out of options and has nowhere else to turn but to these women who he can’t trust and who can’t trust him. Trust seems to be the theme of this episode and even possibly the rest of the season. Rumple has to trust the Queens of Darkness, he has to put his full in trust in other people for once in his life. Because alone Rumple is helpless and powerless. In this episode we saw Rumple standing on the road, seeming to almost want to cry as he waited for the queens to send him the scroll to allow him back into Storybrooke. For that brief moment he looked like he had lost all hope. We see that this is his one chance, if these women betray him before he gets what he needs then he is out of options and alone.

This is a new thing for Rumple. He has to actually put his trust into other people. He trusted Belle in a way but he never completely trusted her. Keeping the dagger to himself showed that there was always a part of himself that he could never hand over to anyone. Now he has to fully trust these three that are not the most savory of characters. It will be interesting to see this man learn to trust and learn how to work with people instead of pushing them away. He can’t do this alone.

Another person that is going to have to learn about trust appears to be Emma. She is going to have to put her full trust in her family and loved ones while also trusting who she is as well. When the creepy ass monster got out of the box and was attacking Storybrooke he was looking for the person who had the heart with the darkest potential. Regina, of course, thought that was her and she tried to use herself as bait. What no one but Rumple noticed was that the monster did not go after Regina until she got its attention. It was fully concentrated on Emma.

The question this leave is why Emma? What happened in the past or will happen that is going to draw out this potential in her? Could this involve Henry or Hook in some fashion? Why does she have this potential?
I feel like Emma is going to have a very difficult struggle coming her way. She is going to not only have to find her deep seeded inner good she is going to have to trust it. I think that if Emma distrusts herself too long somehow her dark potential is going to get a way to take hold and we are going to begin to lose her.

Emma is also going to have to fully trust those around her as well; Hook especially. We see that Hook is still beating himself up for letting Rumple take his heart and control him. He sees himself as having been weak. Emma is gong to start slipping in a dark side of herself, become weak and Hook is going to have to use all the strength he has to help save her. Emma is going to have to put her full trust into him and trust that he has the strength to hold her up. Hook is really going to have to move past his mistakes and find his strong self-assured side again or else they are both going to be doomed.

A quick comment on Snow and Charming. While everyone else is going to be learning to trust others, I have a feeling we are going to be losing some trust in these two. It is obvious after their confrontation with Cruella and Ursula that they are hiding a very big secret. They obviously have had a run in with these women before and I feel like Snow and Charming are going to come off worse in the story. They are our heroes, the ones that we rarely see do wrong. But we know that Snow has dark potential after what she did with Regina’s mother, Cora. Did whatever they did in the past have some connection to Emma’s dark potential? One of the biggest questions right now seems to be who are we going to be able to trust by that end of this season?

Quotes:
“Blinded by love,” – Hook – Hook is talking to Belle, trying to help her feel better about what she didn’t see about Rumple. The question is will the blindness of love extend to him when Emma starts to slip down a dark path?

“[…] Nothing[…] in the real world but a cripple with the real world ability to die,” – Curella – She is reminding Rumple that without them, he is nothing but ordinary. He is powerless and weak right now.

“How could I stand here looking for my happy ending and deny two others a chance at theirs?” – Regina – Snow does not want Cruella and Ursula in the town, she severely distrusts them, mostly because she is hiding a secret. This moment is a role reversal between Snow and Regina. Snow is now the one who can’t trust people and is unwilling to help. Regina is willing to give them a chance, she is willing to see past what they may have done in their pasts. This one quote shows just how far Regina has come from season one.

Questions:
What is Rumple up to? What is his plan?
What does he want to do?
Is what he wants connected to the books somehow?
How did Ursula and Cruella end up in the mortal world and out in New York?
Was it all involved in the original curse somehow?
How will they raise Maleficent?
When will they find out Rumple is back in town?
How will Belle react?
Can Belle ever forgive Rumple?
When and how will Emma find her dark side?
Can she trust her loved ones to save her?
Or does she have to do it alone?
Who is the author?
Where is he or she?
Is the author in somehow a villain? Uncaring and harmful?
Can Regina actually be written a happy ending?
Where is Robin Hood?
Can Regina and Robin Hood get back together?
What are Snow and Charming hiding in their past?

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